BAC

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Middlesex, and had the courage to oppose several arbitrary mea-sures of the court, for which he incurred the queen’s displeasure.On the accession of James L he obtained the honour of knighthood,and in lt)04 was appointed one of the king’s council, with a pen-sion. The next year he published a great work, entitled the Ad-vancement and l’rolicicncy of Learning, for which he was madesolicitor-general. About this time he married a daughter of Mr.Burnham, a rich alderman of London . In 1611 he was appointedjudge of the inarshalsea-court, and obtained the place ot registerof tiie star-chamber, the reversion of which had been granted himtwenty years before. In 1613 he was made attorney-general; andin ltilb sworn of the privy-council. At this time he contracted aclose intimacy with the favourite George Yilliers, to whom hewrote an admirable letter of advice. In 1617 he was made lordkeeper of the great seal, and two years after constituted high chan-cellor of Great Britain , at which time he was advanced to the peer-age by the title of baron of Yerulani, and the year following wascreated viscount St. Albans. In 1620 he published the most ela-borate of all his works, the Novum Organmn Scientiarum, shewinga perfect method of exercising the faculty of reason. The yeariollowinghe was accused in parliament of bribery and corruptioniuIds high oiiice, which heavy charge being admitted by his ownconfession, he was sentenced to pay a tine ot 40,0001. to he impri-soned during the king’s pleasure, and for ever rendered incapableof holding anv public oflice. lie was soon restored to liberty, laidhis line remitted, and was summoned to the first parliament ofking Charles. It must not he omitted, that the greatest part of theblame attaches to his servants, and ot this he was sensible; forduring his trial, as he passed through the room where his domes-tics were sitting, they all rose up at his entrance, on which he said,“ Sit down, my masters, your rise hath been my fall.” After thisdisgrace he went into retirement, where he devoted himself to hisstudies. Notwithstanding his pension of 1S001. a year, and his pa-ternal estate, which was worth 7001. a year, his liberality was sogreat, that at his death, in 1626, his debts amounted to 22,0001.His remains were interred in St. Michael’s church, at St. Alban’s ,where his secretary, sir Thomas Meautys, erected a monument tohis meipory. His writings are an inestimable treasure pf soundwisdom, and were published in an elegant form in 1778, 5 vols.4to. and lately in 10 vols. 8vo. A translation of his Novum Or-ganum, in 2 vols. 1802. Bacon has justly been accounted the Fatherof Experimental Philosophy. Addison has said of him, That hehadthe sound, distinct, comprehensive knowledge of Aristotle , withall the beautiful light graces aiul embellishments of Cicero . Mr.Walpole calls him the Prophet of Arts, which Newton was after-wards to reveal; and adds, that his genius and his works will beuniversally admired as long as science exists. But, we must addwith regret “ as long as ingratitude, and adulation are despicable,SO long shall we lament the depravity of this great man’s heart.Alas ! that he who could command immortal fame, should havestooped to the little ambition of power.”

Bacon , Roger, an English philosopher, was born at Iichester,in Somersetshire , in 1214, and educated at Oxford, lie went toParis and studied with so much diligence and success, as to obtainthe degree of 1).D. On quitting France he retired to Oxford,and about the same time, A. I). 1240, entered into the order ofSt. Francis. lie now devoted himself principally to chemistry,natural philosophy', and mathematics, and so ardent w as he in mak-ing experiments as to spend in the course of twenty years 20001.entirely on these pursuits, which, considering the time he livedin, was a prodigious sum. The discoveries lie made, and the ce-lebrity he obtained, excited the envy and malice of the monks.—It was reported, and believed, that he had recourse to the agencyof evil spirits. In consequence of this he was forbid to read lec-tures in the university, and even confined to bis cell without be-ing allowed to see his friends, or to have a proper supply of food.His works were at length prohibited, and he sentenced to closeimprisonment, in which lie remained above ten years. On beingreleased he retired to Oxford, where he died June 11, 1292. Theuncommon attainments of Bacon obtained tor him, according tothe custom of that age, the appellation of “ the wonderful doc-tor.” And it must be allowed that no man ever deserved it bet-ter. Bishop Bale mentions above eighty treatises written by thisgreat man, of which lie had himself seen near forty ; and Dr. Jebb,tiie learned editor of bis OpusMajus, hi 1 vol. folio, 1733, classes hiswritings under these beads: granunar, mathematics, physics, optics,

geography, astronomy, chronology, chemistry, magic, medicine,log;c, metaphysics, ethics, theology, philology, and miscellanies.Several pieces by him yet remain m MS. particularly one on chro-nology, entitled Computus Rogeri I’aconis; another, called FiberNaturalimn, and the Compendium of Theology', are in tiie king'slibrary. Bacon was a considerable mathematician, and from someof his pieces in MS. it appears that he had a knowledge of the na-ture of convex and concave glasses, and some consider him as theinventor of the telescope. lie also gives descriptions which corres-pond with the camera obscura and burning-glass. His acquain-tance with astronomy and geography was likewise very extensive,and accurate. He detected the errors in the calendar, and sug-gested that reformation in it which was long afterwards adopted byGregory XIII . He is also said to be the inventor of gun powder;he possessed great knowledge in the medical art; amt was an ablemathematician, logician, metaphysician, and theologist.

Bacon , John, an eminent sculptor, was born in Southwark,Nov. 24, 17-iO. lu 1770 he became an associate of the RoyalAcademy , and from that time his reputation daily increased, beingjustly esteemed tlielirsl native artist of bis time, liis works whichare numerous will long remain the glory and ornament of thecountry that had the honour of giving him birth. This eminentsculptor and good man. died August;, 1799, aged bi).

Bacon , the tlesli of swine, salted, dried, and generally smokedin a chimney. As the history and customs relative to this savourydish, would*furnish hut little instruction, we shall proceed to statethe most approved methods of preparing it, both in England and onthe continent.

Somersktshirf.-Bacon, the most esteemed in this country, maybe made any time during the last three months of the year. Whena hog is killed for bacon, the sides are laid in large wooden troughs,and sprinkled all oyer with bav-salt: thus they are left for twenty-four hours, to drain away the blood and the superfluous juices.—After this first preparation, they should be taken out, wiped verydry, and the drainings thrown away. Next, some fresh bay-sdt,well heated in a largo iron frying-pan, is to be rubbed over themeat, until it has absorbed a sufficient quantity, and this frictionrepealed four successive days, while the meat is turned only everyother day. If large hogs are killed, the Hitches should be kept in.brine for three weeks, and during that period, turned ten limes,then taken out, and thoroughly dried in the usual manner; for,unless they be thus managed, it is impossible to preserve them in asweet state, nor will their flavour be equal to (hose properly cured.As the preservation of the* salt used in this process, when carried onto a great extent, may bean object of economy, wc shall state thefollowing method of recovering the saline matter contained in thesedrainings, or in any other brine, whether from herrings, beef, orpork ; it was communicated by a person who had seen it practisedon-the continent, where culinary salt is sold at a considerable price.He first added such a quantity of boiling water to the brine, ordrainings, as wa.s sufficient to dissolve all the particles ot the salt.This solution he then placed in either an iron or earthen vessel,over a fire, which, by boiling, forced all the feculent and animalparticles to the top, sq that they were carefully removed by a per-forated ladle. After the liquict had become dear, it was set asidefor twenty-four hours, in a cool place, that the colouring mattermight subside. But, as the combination it had formed with theboiled liquor was very tenacious, he contrived two different waysof separating it:—1. A solution of alum in water, one pint to anounce of that substance, was gradually dropt into the cold liquor,in the proportion of a table-spoonful of the former to every gal-lon of the latter; and the w hole allowed to stand tor several hours;or, 2. If time and circumstances would permit, he tillered the li-quor by means of long flannel slips, cut longitudinally by dieweb, lmt previously soaked in another strong and perfectly clearsolution of salt: these slips were so immersed into the colouredfluid, that the projecting external end reached another vessel, whichhad been placed much lower than that containing the brine, ordrainings. When these particulars were properly attended to, theabsorbed liquor became almost colourless, and pellucid. Havingthus procured a clear liquid solution, nothing more was requiredthan to evaporate it to dryness, in order to re-produce the salt inits original granulated form. We have faithfully reported theprocess, which may be imitated widiout difficulty, and at little orno expcnce. In our opinion, the second method of dischargingthe colour W preferable; as, by this, no alum will be required,6 * which